Mariella Ella Jean Wakanda. Made in America, circa 1961, shipped to England approximately one year later. Previous Wakanda models include Desdemona Gray Wakanda and Sampson Timothy Wakanda (released 1954 and '56 respectively). A sixth year of 16 years of age, official Hogwarts Quidditch announcer, not so official player. Once Iwan Talog of the Caerphilly Catapults chased me the length of a quidditch pitch. It was awesome. Tornadoes supporter and passionate Ravenclaw. Debunking the myth of bookishness since 1971.
[Breathing out the soft chant in a sing song voice, more to herself than anyone passing by as she makes her way to the library. Another week - though if she was honest she'd been checking the noticeboards in the common room daily for news - and still no hint of an upcoming Hogsmeade weekend. Surely she can't be the only one starting to find the constant confinement to the school grounds claustrophobic.]
mari(el)•la // from Mariele the Danish derivative of the Hebrew Miryam, meaning "bitter beauty", "wished-for child" and "star of the sea". In 1961 156 girls were born in the United States with this name.
jean // of French origin (from the Hebrew Yochana), meaning "God is gracious". There were 5367 girls born with this name in 1961.
wa•kan•da // The name Wakanda means "inner magical power" in Sioux. In Sioux tradition, Wakanda or Wakan Tank is also a term for that which is sacred or divine.
Like others, he was running around trying to get all of his books ready for the year. He was lucky, his brother and sister had most of from from their time at Hogwarts but a lot of them were outdated. It didn’t matter for some of his classes but a class like potions or Care For Magical Creatures? He needed the newest books. There’d been no time to purchase the books of any of his school supplies with both his siblings working all the time so they’d gone at random points after they received the letter listing all the supplies and departure details.
There were mixed feelings about going back. The one thing he didn’t like was being so far away from his brother and sister for over half the year but what was the point? They were never at the house anyway. Besides, Hogwarts was more home to him and he was surround by people twenty four seven.
Walking through the bookstore, Allan looked down at the piece of parchment, looking at the book list. Two books, that’s all he needed to buy today before he could head back to the house and sort through his things, checking, double checking, triple checking everything he had. When he heard the voice, he looked up only to see his potions partner since year one. A small smile spread across his face, seeing a familiar face. 'Ella, I didn't see you there… Are you getting the book for potions?
Allan! [A delighted grin grows on Mariella's lips at the familiar voice, lunging forward to close the distance between them and pulling him into a tight hug. It takes a few minutes for it to process that the contact is evidently too full on for a casual book store encounter (and that the force of her leap very nearly had them crashing into a shelf). A guilty wince as she pulls back, letting out an awkward chuckle and turning her attention back to the book shelf - or anything really other than the familiar boy in front of her; particuarly as the not so distant newspaper reports surfaced in her mind. She knows for sure that if she were ever grieving, she'd hardly want looks of pity.] Oh, you know.... Ol' Sluggers seems to be determined to keep us guessing for this year, doesn't he? ... Can't even work out where they are in here. You found them yet?
[Last minute shopping is (as has so often been proven) never a good idea. But with two days until the school year commences it's just that that has lured the sixteen year old to Diagon Alley. Letting out a small huff she edges to the side of the cobbled walkway, casting a brief glance at the clamour of people passing by before ducking into the store -Flourish & Blotts- her free hand feeling desperately around her bag for the booklist. Merlin knows what sort of trouble she'd find herself in if she couldn't work out exactly what she was supposed to be getting for the year ahead... Not to mention the embarrassment she'd feel having to ask for assistance.]
[With a relieved sigh and hasty mutter of "Thank Merlin" she pulls the parchment out. It's a little torn and scrunched in corners, but legible enough for her to begin scanning the shelves nearby, trailing her fingertips along leatherbound spines and mouthing out titles as she goes.] New edition of Advanced Potions already... didn't they just put out the old one? [Wincing a little once she speaks. Her voice already sounds far too loud in the relative silence of the bookstore.]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Cupcake! You, my dear, are yet another year older, and such a wonderful occasion clearly requires the best sort of celebrations. Which is why I've gotten you tickets to the next Tornadoes game in England. Gid can't seem to shut up about it about how they're your favorite, and it seemed like the perfect sort of thing to end the summer with. There's two there, so we can, if you like, go together. Not a requirement, of course.
Well, I hope to be hear from you, and to see you sooner rather than later. And again, have a very happy Birthday, love.
~Fab
Fab!
Merlin, you're just spoiling me now; not that I can honestly say I mind, of course. I think I've spent most of the day entirely sodden - tradition, Theo said as he pushed me into the loch (the berk he is) - so the day's naturally all the better from getting your letter. Even if I do feel horrendously spoilt now. Obviously I'll be insisting on you coming along with me. Couldn't think of better company to spend the afternoon with, and couldn't possibly consider it a birthday gift without you. Perhaps we could make a day of it?
Thank that brother of yours again for his birthday note; it was rather sweet of him (only leave that bit off of course, couldn't have him thinking I'm going soft.)
I'll be seeing you very soon, I'm sure. (or hoping in the least)
Ella! I apologize for the tardiness of this package; I've just got back from holiday, and Hector takes a rather long time with large things. I hope you have a splendid birthday, and I can't wait to see you back at school--oh, and do you like chocolate or vanilla? I wasn't very sure, so I made you both kinds of cupcakes. Anyways, Happy birthday! ~ Emmeline Vance
Ems!
Don't be silly, he arrived just on time; ie, when my cousins have all finally wandered off to bed, and now I can hog all the cupcakes to myself. Real feast you've gone and sent me, they look fantastic! Doing my best to not scoff them all now actually (Merlin, could you imagine it?)
I'm going to have to weed out all the detail from you on your hols on the train; I'm sure it was far more exciting than mine have been.
Ella, Happy birthday! Hope it's a lovely one. Managed to get a few famous Quidditch player Chocolate frog cards throughout the summer, and thought I'd send them over to you since I won't be using them. See you when the year starts! -V. Hobday
Vi!
Merlin, I’d almost forgotten my birthday was coming (fibbing completely, of course). The cards are fantastic! I’ll have to add them to my collection - and keep my snot nosed cousin out of the books; the little berk he is. Hope your summer’s been fab so far.
She’d arrived early in the afternoon of December 24, cheeks still flushed a faint pink after the final encounter with her cousins –(Got herself a new family, Theo had said with a solemn shake of his head, looking as disappointed as a wiry seventeen year old with a mischievous grin could manage. Leaving us behind, she is. No more squealing around the house for everyone to get up and unwrap presents for this one. Got to play grown up now, Bitty does.) and with a suspicious amount of gifts to unpack beneath the tree - she’d been told, of course not to worry about it, but such words of course had set her off on worrying about little else. The afternoon had bled slowly into evening; the skies outside darkening, the children ushered to bed as conversation grew softer, then faded completely until all at once the house had grown silent and all there was left for company were the embers of the dying fire and the flickering of fairy lights. Yet, for all it was worth Mariella had scarcely noticed she’d been left alone until she no longer was; hugging her legs to her chest, chin resting atop her knees and all but entranced by the shifting glow of orange light from the fireplace.
“Still up, love?” The bustling in the kitchen had seemed distant up to this point, Fabian’s voice dragging her attention from the shifting light of dying embers in the fireplace. It sounds oddly clear against the silence that has fallen across the house, a faint rustling of bed sheets from a room far down the hallway, both of them pausing in anticipation for the creak of floorboards that never comes. “Can’t sleep?” His voice far softer –concern, she thinks, an odd feeling of guilt pooling in her stomach– as he moves closer, placing a steaming mug on the coffee table in front of her.
“Can’t sleep.” Nodding in confirmation; though if she was perfectly honest with herself she hadn’t even attempted sleep yet. It no longer felt the need to come easily, leaving her lying awake in the silence of her room with thoughts like wisps of smoke; blurring her vision but too faint to catch, slipping through her fingers once she thought she had grasped them. Thoughts of things yet to come, desires and dreams, the taste of fire whiskey and butterscotch, and holding hands with fingers laced together and lips pressed to her cheek But that itself is entirely too complicated of an answer. Not to mention one that she does not think she’d ever be able to string into words and form into sentences. Instead she offers a small shake of her head, patting the sofa beside her. “Think I could use the company for now though.” Dragging her bottom lip between her teeth – a sorry attempt at biting back a smile. “Unless you’re heading back upstairs, of course.”
That purely throw away statement gets rewarded with a chuckle, the cushion beneath her shifting as he drops down beside her, fabric rustling with the movement. “Nah, can’t sleep. Could probably use some company though. Since you’re offering.” His tone teasing, an all too familiar devilish glint in his eyes. This time there’s nothing to bite back and she lets out a small giggle herself, ducking her head to hide her flushing face and wide smile once again behind the comforting barrier of her stocking clad legs. “Tell you what’s keeping me up if you’ll tell me what’s got you up?”
Another question. The same twisted answer she can’t quite understand herself. Her smile falls as she too grows silent, studying the shadowy outline of Fabian’s face thoughtfully. There’s an answer somewhere. Dancing just beyond her reach. Perhaps it’s that it feels wrong to close her eyes and leave the house in silence, or it’s the chance to finally let her mind roam without the chatter that had all but bounced off the walls only a few short hours ago.
The answer comes of its own accord. Shrugging her shoulders she drops her gaze to her feet, smile fading as she wriggles her toes and still finding no answer but the jump in her pulse that seems to force words from her mouth with nerve-wracking ease. “I’ve missed you, y’know.” Her voice barely rising above its soft whisper. It’s hardly the answer to the question he asked. Anything but; yet it makes its way off her tongue with such fluidity that it must have been sitting and waiting to at last be spoken.
Silence. It’s the wrong answer and the wrong question, her stomach sinking as the internal berating takes its course. Stupid, stupid, stu-
“Really?” The lights behind him made it hard to distinguish anything in the dark silhouette of his face, but she was sure from the tone of his voice that his eyes would be alight. There’s little she can manage to do but nod, breath hitching in her throat as his hand rises to cup her cheek, and for a moment she was sure he was going to kiss her again. One of those wild dizzying kisses that played over in her head as she tried to sleep -that were the exact reason she was even awake now- and sent her heart fluttering in her chest.
“O-of course.” Feeling faintly ridiculous as her voice catches in her throat, studying his face closely. It’s not a kiss that comes as she watches his gaze drop from her eyes to her mouth. Instead a calloused thumb runs along her jaw line, her head turning as he pulls his hand away to press a tender kiss to his wrist. “Of course.” It had never even crossed her mind that perhaps he might have expected her not to. Let alone that it could even be possible not to. Surely it came with the baggage of a pounding heart that whispered tricky words like lo-… whispered tricky words into the darkness.
There it was again. That word. So fresh and crisp and new that daring to think of it for longer than that brief second it would cross her mind felt as though it would surely crumble in her hands. Too delicate to speak. Untested. And you had to test it out, didn’t you? Sound it out and see if it tugged your lips into a smile of their own accord. See how it sounded in your own voice. See if it came out with that ever so important ring of truth. Analyze each vowel and consonant. And she hadn’t. Not really in any case. You couldn’t count those wisps of thought as sleep engulfed her mind. Hardly counted as lucid thought. Hardly sensible. If anything, it erred far closer to the other end of the spectrum.
Love. Foolish, alien and yet oh so tangible. If she stops to think for long enough she’s sure she’ll start feeling it pulsing through her already trembling limbs. For something storybooks would have her believe was so wonderful, the prospect certainly seemed more terrifying than expected.
“Ella?” She can practically hear the frown in his voice, an odd surge of guilt rising up in the pit of her stomach because of course it’s hardly his fault she’s acting so odd (though the voice in her mind responds that of course it’s entirely his fault). Hardly as though Fabian’s to blame for the fact that she’s started entertaining simple four letter words that add far more complication than any four letter word had the right to. Rough fingertips brush across the back of her hand, and again she lifts her gaze to the shadowy and unreadable face across from her. “Lo-”
“You’ll stay h-here with me, won’t you?” Cutting that oh so pesky word off before he can finish and praying that somehow he’ll have missed the crack of her voice. And for a brief second she thinks that it must have until Fabian’s moving again, plains of shadow passing across his face as he shifts closer, his gaze so solemn as he studies her face that it’s all she can do to drop her own guiltily to the space between them (it shouldn’t be there all that space with four letter words running around her mind.) Her bottom lip quivers; her breath shaky. It was absurd of course. Hardly the first time she’d found herself alone with the boy – man, the voice in the back of her mind reminded her carefully. Yet she was sure he’d never quite looked at her like this; with a gaze that felt so very like home in the dim glow of the fairy lights, in a place that felt so foreign to anything she’d ever called home.
Perhaps it was just Fabian that felt like home. With freckles like constellations, and warm hands he suddenly seemed determined to keep around hers, whose letters were enough to fuel smiles for weeks at a time, and who she… Who she was starting to have very real suspicions about being in love with.
“’Course I’ll stay… I’ve missed you.” Though this time there’s no tone of gentle teasing about it. It’s real. Real as green eyes and fingertip caresses and pesky four letter words that have moved on to practically hanging from her tongue; far too close to bite back. “Can stay up until morning if we feel like it.”
Of course that’s what does it. Fabian is home, and he’s adventure and he’s more than enough to set her heart racing and he’s holding her hand and he’s missed her. The words may as well have just spilt out of their own accord, leaning forward so her forehead rests against his. It’s barely a whisper, and at first she’s not even sure if he’s heard. Until the moment his lips are against hers, just as dizzying as she’d imagined.
Well, I've been dreaming ever since
I've seen your heaven when you came my way.
I heard your heart say love, love, love
I heard your heart say love, love, love
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